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Here we are at the end of the semester, and I’m finishing my final project for J335. I made it! And I’m so happy to finish the class with this project, which is very close to my heart.

I’m about to end my third year here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and some of my absolute best memories of college have taken place on State Street. From sitting outside Michaelangelo’s coffee shop on the first day of spring, to having a fancy dinner with friends at Cosi, to trudging through the snow to get free frozen yogurt, State Street has served as the center of my campus world for three years. When I saw the plans for the Street’s redevelopment that came out this spring, I couldn’t decide if I was excited to see the new beginnings of the street, or sad at the loss of a great area.

Talking to city and University officials backing the plan made me feel like this might be something great. Talking to students who were frustrated at the loss of some of their favorite places, full of memories and stories from their time here as a Badger made me realize that this development is somewhat of a tragedy.

State Street is what makes Madison unique and special. Knocking down small businesses who have had a home in the area for years to build ANOTHER expensive apartment building is a real loss. It even sounds like it could be the plot in an action movie, we just need a hero to swoop in and save the day, stopping the big city from making a mistake and giving into big companies.

This story made me realize I need to take action to try to help the area, and join my friends who were hoping to keep their favorite restaurants and shops right where they are. We can be the action heroes in this situation.

This is the second time that a story I wrote for J335 inspired me to make a change in my life and join a cause. Though I don’t know if my actions will help create any real results, I need to say I tried. I’m proud to say this isn’t something I probably would’ve done before I took this class.

So, even if the apartment building does go up, I can at least say I did what I could, and through the process, I was changed for the better.

Throughout the semester I’ve been working on a feature story about the Solidarity Singers a.k.a. the Solidarity Sing Along that has been going on for over two years at the Wisconsin State Capitol.

Only in July 2012, after over 150 days of peaceful sing alongs were they first punished by law enforcement. Shortly after Capitol Police Chief David Erwin was appointed by the Department of Administration, tickets were being given out almost daily to sing along participants, most for over $100.

The singers stayed peaceful, but quietly began protecting themselves with lawyers. Their singing only got louder though.

This was especially true on Monday, April 15, the day before Chief Erwin’s strict, new “emergency” rules were enforced. The video below is from that day, with over 30 participants on the first floor, and many spectators watching from above.

The future of the Solidarity Sing Along remains unclear. Brandon Barwick, the group’s de facto leader says that they will continue to be there as long as Scott Walker is governor. Capitol police are continuing to enforce harsher punishments on singers to keep them at home. So far, the singers have been successful in court, having all their cases dismissed.

Will dozens continue to show up at the Capitol every day for the next year and a half? Will they stay if Walker is re-elected for four more years?

Even though my official reporting is over, the story definitely isn’t.

I love the Oscars. I’m one of the people who turns on E! at 2 p.m. to watch the endless pre-show coverage for 5 hours. I thought this year’s show was better than it had been in a few years. I didn’t mind Seth MacFarlane as a host, but a few jokes made me cringe.

One in particular about nine-year-old Best Actress nominee Quevenzhattne Wallis being almost too old to date George Clooney seemed downright wrong. Here’s a link to that moment and some of MacFarlane’s other most hated jokes: hps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeR8n3YrxTE

A lot of these jokes left people wondering why? Why would he say that? Why have Seth MacFarlane as host when he’s known for being crude and controversial?

The answer is ratings. Specifically ratings among men. For years the show has been making changes to get more viewers. Ratings were significantly up among men this year, but many are asking at what cost? Is it worth women being humiliated?

Though much was written about these jokes and the Oscars in general across the blogosphere. I had a tough time tracking down people who had watched the show. I was really amazed when working on my story about this year’s Oscars how many people told me they didn’t watch.

I did my first interview for my J335 feature story! I decided that for my interview of a Solidarity Singer group member I would just go up to them outside the Capitol and see who would talk to me. I got so many volunteers! I decided to do my main interview with Martina Rippon, who plays the drum for the group.

It was fascinating to talk to Martina, a retired teacher, who drives the three and a half hours from her home in Kankakee, Illinois to Madison almost every day to be part of the Solidarity Singers. She was so passionate about this group. She literally dedicates almost every day of her life to it.

I’m so excited for my next interviews. It took me a while to come up with the idea for this story, but I’m really happy with the direction it’s going so far.

It’s been a while blogosphere! After a nice and relaxing winter break its time to re-enter the world of being a journalism student.

I’m taking Journalism 335: Intermediate Reporting with Prof. Sue Robinson this semester and am so excited to be past the terrifyingly-gigantic intro course that is J202.

Unfortunately, when it came time to pick a topic to do a feature report on throughout the semester, my mind went completely blank. For like a week. I had no ideas at all. My classmates’ all had amazing ideas that inspired me…eventually.

Working at the Wisconsin Historical Museum on Capitol Square has allowed me to see this passionate group singing and gathering at the Capitol for the last two years. I hope to discover why this group is still here, who makes up the group, and what their goals are.

Doing some online research has shown me that several members of the group face legal consequences, including thousands of dollars in fines. I hope to talk to the Capitol Police Department to figure out why these supposedly peaceful protestors were given tickets and citations.

Maybe I’ll find a really great story about passionate people who won’t give up on a cause they truly believe in. It could be a great human interest piece with a national audience. It could also be a flop. We shall see…

Before reading Unspeakable Conversations, I had never even been aware that infanticide was a topic that people discussed. I have heard of those who believe that a woman should have the right to abort a fetus if it is disabled or believed to be suffering from some sort of mental or physical disability, but actually killing a living infant or child because of a disability is an argument that I (thankfully) have never come across.

I had also never read a story in this form. I was very honestly very intimidated when I was approaching this article because it is a long story with no breaking points in between. It goes against much of the writing techniques we’ve been taught in j202, but it works. It works so well that I don’t think this story would have quite the same effect in any other form. When I was reading it, I felt as if I was right there, listening to Harriet McBryde Johnson telling the story. Though I had never heard of her or Peter Singer, I could visualize them and the situation as if I had seen them every day of my life.

I was curious to learn more about both of the main characters in this story after reading Unspeakable Conversations, and was saddened to learn that Johnson, the author that moved me with this story, passed away suddenly in 2008, at age 50. The Post and Courierof Charleston, South Carolina said her sudden death stunned everyone in Charleston. They describe her as a strong woman, a fighter, but also as having a great sense of humor, and a love of passing people on the street with her power scooter.

The other character in this story, Peter Singer is still a professor at Princeton. Reading more about his beliefs and ideas, I am very confused as to how he could feel this way and so publicly say things like that he doesn’t consider handicapped children as people (paraphrased by Johnson in paragraph 3). An idea like this seems so monstrous to most people, and in fact Johnson refers to him as a monster and a Nazi in the story, names that those around her called Singer. The fact that he basically believes she shouldn’t have had the chance to live, and says this to Johnson, and yet she still by the end looks to him almost as a friend, says so much about who she was as a person.

I really enjoyed this reading. I not only learned about these important ethical issues that I had been previously unaware of, but also learned about a truly inspiring person. How she lived her life is amazing, and a real wake-up call to appreciate what we have, and to treat those around us with kindness and respect no matter what their abilities or their opinions are.

Many Americans found the 2012 presidential election results surprising. I was very happy with the results, but shocked that President Obama took all the “battleground” states with the exception of North Carolina. The Republican Party proved to be very entertaining in broadcasting their reasons for why the results turned out as they did. In this blog post, I will be examining some of the reasons given by Republicans for the presidential loss.

The media/fact checkers

Many Republicans adamantly believe the media has a liberal bias. Sarah Palin especially made this newsworthy in the 2008 presidential election, coining the term “liberal gotchya media.” Rich Noyes of the conservative Media Research Center slammed the “media’s biased gaffe patrol” for only magnifying every alleged Romney gaffe while failing to treat the president’s missteps equally. “When Obama infamously declared, ‘You didn’t build that,’ ABC, CBS, NBC didn’t report the politically damaging remark for four days,” Noyes wrote. In contrast, the Republican National Committee pounced on the remarks, used them in advertising, and even building an entire convention theme around the out of context quote. Noyes also says the “fact-checkers” which were very popular during this presidential debate season were bias and pointed out Romney and Ryan’s errors more so than President Obama’s and Vice President Joe Biden’s.

“If I hear anybody say it was because Romney wasn’t conservative enough, I’m going to go nuts,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a Nov. 5 interview with Politico. “We’re not losing 95 percent of African-Americans and two-thirds of Hispanics and voters under 30 because we’re not being hard-ass enough.”

Even before Romney was chosen as the Republican nominee, he was criticized by other potential nominees and the media for being too centrist, with some even saying that he wanted to “wage war” on the Tea Party. It wasn’t until the first presidential debate that Romney made clear how conservative he could be in an effort to sway undecided voters.

No matter which reason you like best, it is clear to most that the Republican Party needs to change their platform. Like Senator Graham said, the Republican Party really struggles to connect with voters of color and young voters. As a young voter myself, I feel that the Republican Party will not be able to connect with these voting bases unless they change their stance on social issues. Being more conservative will only make this worse. As time passes, the older voters who make up a large part of the conservative base will disappear, unless Republicans change their stance on issues like gay marriage, they will never be able to reach an entire country.